Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/100060
GENUINE SURPRISE Robert Waechter (left) watches the swearing-in of the newly elected Sarasota County commissioners on Nov. 20. Photo by Norman Schimmel CONA PRESIDENT SAYS SHE FOUND IT HARD TO BELIEVE HER FORMER FELLOW SIESTA KEY ASSOCIATION DIRECTOR WAS CHARGED WITH MAKING A FRAUDULENT CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTION IN HER NAME By Rachel Brown Hackney Editor Having served with Robert Waechter for years on the board of the Siesta Key Association, Lourdes Ramirez told The Sarasota News Leader on Dec. 17 she was not surprised he had enough of her personal information to be able to use it in making a fraudulent campaign contribution in her name. from 2003 until 2011; Waechter remains on the board. Waechter, 70, a former chairman of the Sarasota County Republican Party and a member of the Sarasota Manatee Airport Authority, was charged Dec. 14 with a third-degree felony in connection with a $200 contribution made in ���We���ve known each other for 10 years,��� she added, though they have had little contact Ramirez��� name to the congressional campaign since she stepped down from the SKA board of New College professor Keith Fitzgerald. in 2011. Waechter immediately posted $1,500 bond Ramirez is now the president of the Saraso- Friday after turning himself in to the Sarasota County Council of Neighborhood Associa- ta County Sheriff���s Office, Community Affairs tions (CONA). She served on the SKA board Manager Wendy Rose told the News Leader.